Voters Uphold Auditorium Sale

Commissioners Now Will Focus On Building New Arena In County

WEST PALM BEACH — Voters went to the ballot box Tuesday and narrowly shot down a grass-roots effort to overturn the City Commission's decision to sell the Municipal Auditorium to Jehovah's Witnesses.

``All right!'' said an enthusiastic David Baker, chairman of the pro-sale Alliance for Integrity political action committee as the final results were released at the Supervisor of Elections Office.

On the opposite side of the room, City Commissioner Al Zucaro, who opposed the $12.5 million deal, was glum.

``We have a county that doesn't have a place for the circus,'' Zucaro said.

The two sides were only 272 votes apart. Almost 20 percent of the city's registered voters turned out at the polls.

But both Baker and Zucaro agreed on one thing: The pressure is on to find a replacement now that the auditorium, center of family-oriented events for 32 years, will soon close.

Where a replacement will be built, and at whose expense, are the big questions.

``We've committed not to raise taxes for five years,'' Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty said on Tuesday.

A West Palm Beach group is seeking a $1.5 million-a-year commitment for up to 25 years from the county for a $55 million arena on Clematis Street.

Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton says it might build an arena and plans to find a consultant to determine if a 15,000-seat arena can be privately funded.

And the South Florida Fairgrounds near Wellington has a building it has said it could expand to meet the city's needs.

A new arena can boost a local economy but its location is not always the top consideration when residents consider whether it is a good investment, said FAU business professor Merle Dimbath.

``Does the Kravis Center benefit somebody in Boca or west of [West Palm Beach)? It does if they travel to the program'' at the performing arts theater in West Palm Beach, Dimbath said.

But for now, Palm Beach County residents may have to travel to either Broward County's new arena or the Miami Arena to see the popular ice shows and circuses that were a staple of entertainment at the auditorium.

The fight over the auditorium began last July, when the West Palm Beach City Commission approved its sale to the Witnesses, who have used the auditorium for 25 years for religious conventions.

Opponents charged the deal, negotiated by Mayor Nancy Graham and her staff, would leave a void in family entertainment until a new arena is built, and that the city did a poor job in marketing the auditorium's sale, hurting its sale price.

Organized under the banner Community Coalition for a Better Auditorium Deal, opponents gathered petitions with 2,000 registered city voters to force a vote on the deal.

Joann Mushik was among those carrying the coalition's ``Save the Auditorium'' banner on Tuesday near a polling site off Southern Boulevard.

``I've lived here eight years, always attended the events at the auditorium, especially the skating. Nothing against the Jehovah's Witnesses, but the people should have been given a right to a decision before the sale,'' said Mushik, who voted against the sale with a ``yes'' vote.

The City Commission originally set a Dec. 16 referendum after the petition drive was certified. But Jehovah's Witnesses said it had a contract and challenged the legality of a referendum. A circuit judge agreed, killing the referendum. But the 4th District Court of Appeal overturned that decision and cleared the way for the single-item referendum.

Under terms of the July 1997 deal, the Witnesses were to take ownership by July. But due to the political uncertainty, it entered a separate agreement with the city in March allowing it to lease the auditorium for conventions expected to draw 60,000 people in June, July and August.

Steve Malone, a south end resident and assistant public defender, said he voted for the sale, a ``no'' vote, because of what he believed was an undercurrent of religious bigotry.

Also voting in favor of the sale on Tuesday at the St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church was financial manager Stuart Thomas, but for a different reason.

``It never should have come up on the ballot. If you don't like what the politicians are doing, vote them out,'' Thomas said.